A clinical Tim Cahill has scored his second international hat-trick against Bangladesh in a 4-0 away thumping of the 180th-ranked Bengal Tigers.

The straightforward win, to which skipper Mile Jedinak also contributed a goal, sent Ange Postecoglou's side to the top of their qualifying group.

In doing so they leapfrogged previous leaders Jordan, who shocked them in Amman last month and left them no room for error in the year's final two fixtures against Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh.

Postecoglou was satisfied with his side's four first-half goals in Dhaka but admitted to being unimpressed with a sloppier second-half showing, believing they are nowhere near their best.

However, he cut his players some slack, acknowledging that the "unusual build-up" amid security concerns in Bangladesh had taken its toll on the playing group.

"Knowing what the boys have been through the last few days both physically and mentally, we lost our focus and concentration in the second half and it became very, very scrappy," Postecoglou told Fox Sports.

"When that happens it's not about goals, it's just that we didn't really maintain our composure.

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"But with everything that's gone on, the players and the staff have handled themselves impeccably and we're pleased we got through it unscathed."

Tim Cahill netted three goals in the comfortable win. (Getty)

The Socceroos left Bangabandhu National Stadium for the airport almost directly after the match as part of the heavy security measures in place, with Football Federation Australia opting for the team to spend little more than 24 hours on the ground to protect their safety.

A smattering of Australian fans were among the boisterous near-packed crowd, despite advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to exercise a high degree of caution in Bangladesh.

With the final qualifying fixture of the year now done and dusted the pressure is firmly back on Jordan, whose 1-0 loss to Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek overnight leaves them on 13 points - two points behind Australia.

The battle for top spot will likely come down to a winner-takes-all showdown between the pair in Australia early next year.

But either way the Socceroos are in a strong position to at least progress as one of the four best second-placed teams from the eight groups.

Despite the Socceroos' fizzling form, Postecoglou said the victories against both Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan in Canberra last week were the perfect remedy to their 2-0 loss to Jordan.

"I can't fault the players in terms of getting a reaction after the last disappointing result and performance against Jordan," he said.

"We're nowhere near where we want to be, and we'll keep moving along until we get to be the team that we eventually want to end up as.

"But it was a good 10 days, we exposed more players to this level and others came back in.

"With any luck, by the time March comes around we'll have a really strong contingent of players competing for spots."